The deal is done
by OnceUponAShip
Summary: What's a girl to do when your parents make a deal with the most hated man in town, and you're the price? Belle arrives back in her hometown for her 21st birthday with a 7 year old in tow, but she's only been gone for a year. Her trip back home will reveal more secrets about the town than she ever thought possible, and her parents used to hunt the supernatural! AU, no curse


This is the story of how Belle French dies.

Well, not really but now you're interested, right? This_ is_ the story of Belle French, but she goes by many names. On her trip to Arizona last week she was Lacey Bale, and on her current job in Virginia she is Jane Manchester- this was probably the first fake name she'd chosen that hadn't been a play on her own name.

Belle's job requires that she travel around almost constantly, staying in one place for a week at the longest. It's not like she can really complain though; she's her own employer. Listen to me saying 'employer' like this is an actual paying job. Belle travels from state to state stopping supernatural occurrences, and she doesn't know it yet but she's about to start the biggest case of her life.

Belle was tired, and cold, and really in need of her daily coffee. She'd been driving for nearly twenty four hours straight, with a few half hour nap breaks on the side of the road scattered throughout. She'd been doing this for nearly three whole years, in fact her 3-year anniversary was just about two days away, including today, and if she'd learned one thing it was that coffee made the world go round. This job didn't have the 'adrenaline' rush TV shows advertised. In fact it was more talking then fighting. Belle had found out in her first few months working that the job was nothing like she'd thought it would be; it's scarier, and there's a lot more involved than just killing something and moving on. Look at Belle for example: She's twenty years old, and about as tall as a pre-mature eight grader with arms the width of a can of Monster. More clearly stated: she's about the farthest thing from killing material that you will ever meet. These 'monsters' out there have families, friends, most of the time they're either born the way they are or something made them this way. As often as she can Belle just tries to help them figure out how to deal with their lifestyle. She knew how the death of a loved one could affect your while life and she wouldn't put another person through that.

She hadn't come across any other people like her so she liked to think of herself as the world's only supernatural life coach.

Belle had finished her last case yesterday, another case of werewolf-itis, and she's been driving to her next location ever since: Storeybrook, Maine. When she's there she will be Belle French, because why attempt to go by a false name in your hometown? It's been almost three years since she's seen her parents so what better way to spend her 21st birthday then with them?

Storeybrook is about a 14 hour drive from here, give or take. Though it should be specified that 'here' is nearly thirty minutes from the University of Virginia. Her car was cruising through a small town called 'Season city' or so her GPS told her. Why it was called a city Belle couldn't figure out because while it seemed to have a lot of season themed businesses, the 'city' was actually barely large enough to be considered a medium sized town. Speaking of local business, it is 8:30 in the morning and Belle hadn't had her daily dose of caffeine yet.

With hawk like eyes, Belle spotted a café just up ahead. Two actually, how lucky that there's a café right when she's getting a craving for coffee. Well in 'the business' that's actually called scary and not lucky, but 'normal' people usually just call it a coincidence. In Belle's dictionary however, the word 'coincidence', doesn't exist, but she did want some coffee and maybe she could take a peek at the local newspaper to see if anything odd has happened recently.

The transmission gave a startling grind as she shifted it into park. Honestly she was just glad the clunker made it this far. It had been her father's from when he was old enough to buy it and as soon as she turned sixteen she inherited it. It didn't feel right getting rid of it now.

Something under her foot made a gritty crunch when she finally managed to unhook her seatbelt and slide out of the driver's seat. Lift her foot and expecting the worst, Belle saw something shiny. Golden…Sand? She was sure she was in Virginia, not Florida. Belle sighed, 'Did I get into another bind with a genie again? I really hope not.' Genies are nasty creatures. Lots of goo and sand that wouldn't normally be associated with the belly dancers they appear as. Maybe it was just from some summer themed shop? The Halloween themed café 'All Hallows' was the themed shop she ended up parking next to. What an odd name. Directly across from the street was another café as well. It was weird positioning for two coffee shops to be exactly across from each other, but the other one was some Christmas themed café and Christmas was so two weeks ago. Literally. There's only so much Christmas a girl can handle before it starts to become annoying, especially when you have no one to spend it with. Christmas makes December a terrible time to have a travelling job like hers. She's in her car for at least 7 hours a day, she definitely didn't like being in it any longer than she had to be, especially not in the winter. A jeep is great for off road chases and races, but it definitely is not fun in the cold.

Blowing cold air around like a dragon, she headed into the Halloween café. Stepping through the door she nearly keeled over as the magic in the shop tackled her like she was a football and it was a high school football player. Not one of those public school players either, we're talking private and he's just caught sight of the recruiter in the crowd. Staggering, she somehow managed to not tip over thought the weight of the laptop case slung over her shoulder nearly titanic'd her.

Taking a deep breath she marched towards the front desk. A man in all black stood at the counter, and by all black I mean Gandalf the white would have cried. The material seemed to be two different colors; black until around the elbows where it cut off to an ashy color and continued on. Man, fashion was weird these days.

He stood straight as Belle approached and seemed ready to slip into his automatic 'What can I get you today?' but for the first time since she stepped in, Belle actually looked at his face. His skin was grey, like someone had bathed him in ashes. His shirt only went to his elbows. Boy, was she embarrassed. You'd think that with all the strange things she'd seen a simple skin discoloration wouldn't even faze her, but the magic swarming around this man was nearly visible. His eyes pierced hers when she took a few seconds longer than needed inspecting him. His eyes had an odd amber gleam to them. A predatory gleam.

"Can I help you?" Realizing that she had probably already offended him, Belle decided to get this over with like taking a two day old bandaid off. Quick and someone was probably going to start crying like a baby. Hint hint, it wasn't going to be him. Looks like she wasn't going to be getting that coffee she wanted today. Shame…

"Yes, I believe you can. I need to speak with the manager of this place." It was a small business so it was more likely that the manager and the owner were the same. Granny, her pseudo grandmother, owns a little diner back home that she's the manager and cook at. With one cool glance around the store he sat his apron on the counter and beckoned her to follow him back to the connected kitchens. Following him, she noticed a nametag labeled 'Jack' attached to the discarded apron. He didn't really seem like a Jack.

"I have a feeling you're not the health inspector." He drawled the moment they passed the threshold. The quiet chatter from the main room had been seemingly muter, no doubt more of his magic.

"Then you'd be right. My name is Jane Manchester and I'm here on account of this suffocating magic. Whatever you've got going on here definitely isn't just tarot cards and magic tricks." Placing her petite hands on her hips she did her best to imitate that look teachers gave the speakers when the intercom start talking over them. Though on her face it looked more like a mouse trying to convince a cat she was just subbing for the chef and the recipe just happened to call for cheese.

The owner towered over her, but to be fair, when you're 5ft 2 even 6th graders looked like giants compared to you, but that's where self-confidence came in. The ashen faced man raised an almost non-existent eyebrow.

"Oh and you're one to talk?" His sentence only served to further her irritation, the magic levels were giving her a headache. She had a 14 hour drive ahead of her and every minute spent here meant a longer wait to get home.

"This one time I'm gonna humor you and ask what you're talking about." He looked surprised at that.

"You mean you don't know?" Honestly, she just wanted some coffee, not some crazy magic user who likes to be a know-it-all.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I did.'

"There's old magic attached to you. Very old, very powerful. Nothing you could have done, of course." Was that an insult?

"Okie dokey dude, I just wanna tell you that magic is dangerous and you're doing too much of the black stuff. Now heaven knows I like coffee just as much as the next customer, but black magic is a terrible creamer and not at all good for sales." With that Belle slid a business cared out of the side of her computer bag. It was just a blank card with her cell number written on it, but you'd be surprised how much it came in handy. People seem to keep better track of a number than a fake name.

"Keep it safe, or else someone's going to get hurt. I've seen enough of these situations to recognize when someone's in over their head, and honey, you're drowning. Call me when you want to be pulled out of the water." Once his fingers gasped the card she turned on her heel and left. So much for coffee, but the magic had already thrown her appetite out the window. Once she was back in the safety of her car she couldn't help but wonder just what the man had been going on about.

It wouldn't have been entirely impossible for someone she'd came across in the past to have cursed her or something, but the majority of magic users she'd met had been pretty laid back. Probably because of all the herb if she actually sat back and thought about it. Well nothing bad had happened so far so maybe it was just like an 'occasional bad hair day' curse?

Belle was so wrapped up in her own wonderings that she almost didn't see the little girl run out into the road ahead. Luckily, black hair sticks out like a sore thumb when surrounded by snow. Slamming the breaks, she quickly veered right to avoid her. The car was in park and she was stepping out of it before the little girl could even make it to the other side of the road.

The road was lined with trees and she hadn't passed a house in miles, let alone another person. What was a little girl doing all the way down here? She didn't look like she could be much older than seven and she look frightened out of her wits…

Belle took a hesitant step towards her and the frail girl went completely still, her dark brown eyes widened, meeting Belle's gaze before falling to something behind her. Belle was downed before she could even think to look back. Something had whammed into her shoulder with such a force that if it hadn't broken on contact it was by the time she landed on the asphalt. On pure adrenaline Belle jumped up and made a dash for the girl. She had been in similar situations too much in the last three years to stop and look for the monster now. Being just a human, the best she could do with dangerous supernaturals was try and save as many civilians as possible.

Shoulder screaming in pain, Belle heaved the girl into her arms and sprinted back to the car, throwing it in drive and gunning it before she could even shut the door. Through her side mirror she could see a mass of shadows misting upwards as they sped off. As the adrenaline slid out of her system the pain in her left shoulder made itself present and Belle bit back a curse, instead focusing on the shivering kid on her lap.

"Are you alright? Did that thing hurt you before I got there?" She asked, easing the girl into the passenger seat. The little girl snapped the seatbelt over herself, reminding the actual adult that she should probably do the same. Be a 'good role model' and all. Out of the corner of her eye Belle could see her shake her head 'no'. Her feet were just hovering over the flooring of the car, and her black tresses bobbed around her face shyly.

"Alright then, what's your name?" she as the adult here after all, keeping a level head is what the kid needed her to do so it's what would be done.

"My name's Regina, I think, but I'm not sure…" 'Oh my God please don't tell me she hit her head on something. Deep breathes Belle. Who's the best supernatural consultant? I'm the best supernatural consultant.'

"Alrighty then, how about I just call you Snow White until we find your parents, OK?" The shy little bundle in the seat over nodded.

"So do you know where you live then? Or your parents' names at least?" Belle was met with another head shake. Sighing lightly she looked back to the road. 'How stupid am I?' Belle thought, mentally slapping herself on the forehead. 'If she wasn't even sure of her name why would she know an address?'

"How about school then?" At this Regina perked her head up.

"School? I think I've been to a school before! My brother went to one. I don't remember where though." Her voice trailed off sadly. 'What can I do?' Belle was way out of her league with this one. 'Could I just take her with me? Would that be considered child-napping even though technically that shadow thing was probably still after her? I sure hope not 'cause I'm not stopping this car until I'm out of this magic infested state.'

"Well Snow, how would feel about going to Maine with me? My Grandmother probably has some tricks up her sleeve that could help you keep whatever that thing was- OH! I forgot to say, my name is Belle. And I'm not kidnapping you I promise! Oh my god that sounded terrible and I'm the one saying it!" Belle would have gone on with her horrible case of word vomit, but a quiet giggle from Belle stopped her. Regina's face was pulled into a wide smile and her eyes seemed to sparkle. No wait, scratch that, they were sparkling. In the dark brown parts of her eyes, glittering colors danced around. That definitely wasn't natural, but she didn't seem bothered by it so Belle just gave another sigh and decided to have Granny check it out when she got back home.

* * *

AN- I hope fans of 'Battle of the coffee shops' liked the allusion in this. This takes place two weeks after the end (Which you all haven't read yet) of Battle of the coffee shops.


End file.
